In 2002 the bombing campaign in Afghanistan was exacerbating the environmental catastrophe that had been initiated by years of civil conflict and drought. The country’s remaining forests were being bombed or burned in the search for terrorists, and refugees were clearing forests for farming and fuel. The number of birds crossing eastern Afghanistan on one of the world’s major migratory routes was down by 85%. Afghanistan’s mountains—home to leopards, gazelles, bears, and Marco Polo sheep—also were at risk. Some refugees were reported to be hunting rare snow leopards to buy a safe passage across the border.

Elsewhere, marine conservation issues were prominent. In January the U.S. Navy admitted that its use of a high-intensity sonar system had most likely caused whale strandings and deaths in The Bahamas in March 2000—it was the first time that such strandings had been definitely linked to these commonly used systems. Research using satellite tags to track white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) revealed that they ranged more widely and could tolerate a broader temperature range than was thought previously. In February tropical coral reefs were reported to be endangered by rising ocean temperatures (which causes bleaching), and reefs in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean were being irreparably damaged by unregulated deep-sea bottom trawling. In June an aerial survey confirmed that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef was suffering one of the worst coral bleaching episodes on record. The first global study of the dugong (sea cow, an aquatic mammal) found that it was disappearing or extinct in most of its 37 range countries. Only one viable population remained in East Africa, while in much of the tropics, the seagrass beds where dugong fed were being cleared for shrimp farming and saltpans or were smothered by silt. The UN Environment Programme launched an action plan to preserve seagrass habitats.

In March the secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species reversed a 2001 ban on trade in caviar from sturgeon caught in the Caspian Sea, after the countries involved produced a plan to raise and release young sturgeon. Biologists objected because the problem of illegal harvests, which took 10 times more fish than the legal quotas, had not been solved.

Introduced species continued to threaten native wildlife in many places. In Tasmania 77 Australian species, including some that had been eradicated on the mainland, were potentially at risk after foxes were introduced, perhaps deliberately by individuals who wanted new game to hunt. Wildlife managers were trying to devise ways of killing the foxes without harming native species. A threat to native freshwater species in the eastern U.S. was feared when northern snakehead fish (Channa argus)—a species that can survive out of water for several days and travel over land—were found in a pond in Maryland. A local man evidently had released two of these voracious predatory fish from China, and they were breeding. In September Maryland wildlife officials sprayed poison into the pond where the snakeheads had been found.

After four Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) died in two weeks—two in road accidents—Spain in March announced an emergency $6.8 million plan to save the species. In three decades the population had declined from 1,000 to around 200 in the Doñana and Sierra Morena national parks. The new plan would augment rabbit populations (the lynx’s main prey), protect scrubland refuges, and connect isolated habitats.

Illegal logging threatened the Tesso Nilo forest in Sumatra, which the World Wildlife Fund had identified as biologically the world’s richest lowland forest. It was Indonesia’s most important remaining elephant habitat. Even as the forest was being surveyed, however, it was being felled at a rate that, if continued, would destroy it completely by 2005.

On the Hawaiian island of Maui, an attempt to bring together a pair of the world’s rarest birds failed in May when a female po’ouli (Melamprosops phaeosoma), after being transferred to the territory of the only male, flew back to her own home range without encountering the male. There were only three surviving birds. Efforts to save the kakapo (Strigops habroptilus), New Zealand’s giant ground-nesting parrot, met with more success. The last surviving birds, brought together on one island that was free of predatory rats, produced 24 chicks, more than in the whole of the previous two decades. This brought the world total to 86 kakapo, compared with 50 in 1995. Conservationists claimed that Australian plans to build a refugee camp on Christmas Island would jeopardize the last breeding colony of Abbott’s booby, one of the world’s most endangered birds.

On May 9 two adult female mountain gorillas were shot by poachers and a young gorilla taken for illegal sale. Fourteen people were arrested in connection with the incident. The animals were part of a group habituated for tourism in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and had been monitored daily for 20 years. This was the first gorilla-poaching incident since 1985 in Rwanda, which held about 350 of the 650 mountain gorillas left in the world.

On October 8 the World Conservation Union published an updated Red List of Threatened Species. It listed 11,167 species, an increase of 121 since the year 2000. Notable changes included some East Asian species, such as the saiga (Saiga tatarica), a medium-sized hoofed mammal, and the Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), which were classified as critically endangered for the first time.

A new epidemic of phocine distemper started in May in Denmark and by August had spread to Dutch, Belgian, Swedish, Norwegian, French, German, and British coasts, killing an estimated 19,000 seals. The last epidemic, in 1988, had killed 18,000 seals.

Australian scientists embarked on an attempt to resurrect the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus), which had become extinct in 1936. They successfully amplified DNA extracted from three Tasmanian tigers preserved in alcohol more than 100 years ago. The next steps would include assembling a DNA library for the species, building chromosomes and cell nuclei, inserting genetic material into the egg of a Tasmanian devil, a closely related species, and placing a fertilized egg into a surrogate mother. Some biologists argued that it would be better to spend the money on conservation efforts for extant species.

New species described during the year included a new species of gerbil (Gerbillus rupicola) found in rocky outcrops in the Inner Delta of the Niger River in Mali and a new Congo shrew (Congosorex verheyeni) from three localities north of the Congo River. A new species of green parrot, bald and with an intensely orange head (Pionopsitta aurantiocephala), was described from the vicinity of the Tapajós and Lower Madeira rivers in Brazil, where its forest home was disappearing at the hands of loggers and ranchers.

Zoos

Despite a tough year, accredited zoos and aquariums in North America continued to garner large attendance numbers in 2002, attracting over 134 million visitors—more than professional baseball, basketball, football, and ice hockey combined. Innovative new experiences such as the Philadelphia Zoo’s Zooballoon ride, a hot-air balloon tour over the zoo’s 1,800 animals, attracted repeat and first-time visitors alike.

International attention focused on the plight of the troubled Kabul Zoo in Afghanistan. The North Carolina Zoo spearheaded a fund to aid the zoo that raised more than $530,000. In April a group of veterinarians, funded by the donations, traveled to Afghanistan to continue the work to aid the zoo. Medical treatment was administered to an injured bear, but, unfortunately, the zoo’s most famous resident, Marjan, a lion blinded during the Afghan civil war, had died only a few weeks after supplies of fresh food had been made available. A freshwater supply was established, and preparations were made for drilling a borehole on the zoo grounds to secure a long-term water supply. The struggling zoo continued to be supported through the efforts of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) as well as the North Carolina Zoo.

The bushmeat (hunting of wild animals for food) crisis in Africa, which was leading to the unsustainable loss of wildlife due to overhunting, was brought to Americans’ attention in July when the House Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans held an oversight hearing on the issue. Bushmeat was a long-term concern of the zoo community, addressed through its Bushmeat Crisis Taskforce (BCTF). Michael Hutchins, director of conservation and science for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) and steering committee chair for the BCTF, testified, urging an international collaborative effort to provide sustainable financing for a system of protected areas in Africa and advocating for the establishment of a Congressional Bushmeat Caucus to identify actions the U.S. government could take to address the crisis.

Summer flooding in Germany and the Czech Republic affected several zoos and wildlife parks. The Prague Zoo was the most severely flooded. More than half the zoo was submerged, the roofs of some pavilions no longer visible. The zoo staff stayed long after the city had been evacuated, risking their lives to rescue more than 1,000 animals. Unfortunately, 90 animals drowned, and an Asian elephant and a hippopotamus had to be destroyed because rescue was impossible. WAZA organized a fund to help rebuild the zoo and replace the lost animals.

Tracey McNamara of the Bronx Zoo (New York City) and Dominic Travis of the Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago) headed up a study of the effect of the West Nile virus on zoo species. WNV swept westward across the country in 2002, particularly affecting bird populations. Nationally, zoo officials worked to administer an equine vaccine to those mammal and bird populations it could protect, and to identify additional methods of protection for other species in their care. In September a promising breakthrough surfaced. Clinical trials of a bird vaccine developed by the American Bird Conservancy in partnership with the AZA showed a 60% increase in survival rates over unvaccinated birds.

Marking a major advent in the science of protecting endangered species, the San Diego (Calif.) Zoo’s scientists fused cow eggs with the DNA of the endangered banteng (a Southeast Asian ox). The DNA came from the “frozen zoo,” a collection of tissue samples that the San Diego Zoo had maintained since 1977. Scientists expected at least six cloned banteng births in March 2003.

In November the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service called upon the North American zoo community to place six polar bears seized from the Suárez Brothers Circus in Puerto Rico. Another bear from the circus was taken in by the Baltimore (Md.) Zoo in March 2002. The rescued bears, accompanied by Diana Weinhardt, the Houston (Texas) Zoo’s curator of large mammals, were flown to the Point Defiance (Wash.) Zoo, the Detroit Zoo, and the North Carolina Zoo, where they received professional husbandry and veterinary care.

While Colorado’s Ocean Journey Aquarium declared bankruptcy during the year, several other aquariums began large expansion projects, including the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Several new aquariums, including one in Tulsa, Okla., planned 2003 openings. On November 1 the Churaumi Aquarium opened on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The second largest aquarium in the world, Churaumi featured a wealth of exhibits centring on aquatic life at all depths of the Kuroshio Current, which passes by Okinawa.

Gardening

In 2002 drought again played a major role in gardening. A drought throughout Europe, especially in Italy, affected horticultural crops, while in the U.S. a shortage of rainfall was reported in portions of all 48 contiguous states. Nearly half of the U.S. reported below-average rainfall at some point during the year. In Santa Fe, N.M., the water shortage became severe enough to allow outdoor watering only once a week; many residents turned to artificial flowers to brighten their homes and businesses.

Despite the drought, sales of plant material continued their five-year climb (up 42% over that period), the only exception being sales of trees and shrubs, which showed a continuing decline. Urban nurseries saw patrons lining up to buy exotic plant varieties with little attention to frugality. “Boutique dirt” was also increasingly popular; Scotts and Miracle-Gro led the trend toward branded specialty mixes, as opposed to unbranded topsoil.

Harsh weather and pollution continued to take their toll on street trees in the U.S. In Washington, D.C., a survey by the Casey Trees Endowment Fund showed that only 32% of the 106,000 city-owned street trees were completely healthy, and more than 10,000 were dead. That figure conformed with national statistics that showed a 25% decline in the “urban forest” of America over the past 30 years. The U.S. government unveiled a program to plant more trees. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman announced the awarding of $933,000 in grants to plant memorial groves and healing gardens in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C., to honour victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. unveiled prospective plans for a memorial garden at the site of the World Trade Center.

The year brought changes at two venerable horticultural institutions in New England. The 98-year-old Horticulture magazine was sold by Primedia to F&W Publications of Cincinnati, Ohio. F&W planned to keep the 200,000-circulation publication in its Boston offices. Gardener’s Supply Co., which specialized in organic products, purchased the bulb company Dutch Gardens and moved its operation from New Jersey to Vermont.

There were also major changes on the set of PBS’s The Victory Garden, the most recognizable television program in American home gardening for 27 years. In the spring of 2002, the network announced that both producer Russ Morash and host Roger Swain were leaving the show. Michael Weishan replaced Swain, and the bulk of the filming was scheduled for Weishan’s garden. Swain signed on to cohost a new program, People, Places & Plants, The Gardening Show, which was seeking sponsors and affiliates.

The Missouri Botanical Garden received the largest private gift ever to an American botanical garden, $30 million from the Jack Taylor family. The endowment would be used to identify and preserve plant species before they became extinct. The New York Botanical Garden got a $100 million face-lift to its facilities, adding an International Plant Science Center and herbarium and restoring its Beaux-Arts Library Rotunda. At Hanbury Hall, Droitwich, Worcestershire, Eng., a nine-year project to restore the18th-century parterre gardens was completed.

In 2002 Fleuroselect, the organization that recognized outstanding advances in plant breeding, announced five gold medal winners for 2003: Petunia Blue Wave, a deep blue spreading petunia with good weather tolerance; Salvia superba Merleau, a perennial species that produces bright purplish blue spikes the first year after sowing; Rudbeckia hirta Prairie Sun, an annual with striking two-tone golden blossoms; Viola cornuta Sorbet Orange Duet, selected for its remarkable colour combination of orange and purple, the first ever in a viola cultivar; and Dianthus caryophyllus Can Can Scarlet, a brilliant red carnation that was bred to perform well in the home garden, especially in containers and pots.

The All-America Selections (AAS) announced its winners for 2003, including three honoured by Fleuroselect: Blue Wave, Prairie Sun, and Can Can Scarlet. Also designated AAS winners were: Agastache foeniculum Golden Jubilee, a symmetrical branching annual ornamental with pale green fragrant leaves and lavender-blue flower spikes; Dianthus Corona Cherry Magic, a bicolor dianthus with five-centimetre (two-inch) blooms of red and lavender; Eustoma Forever White, with large blooms on compact branching plants, good for containers; Gaillardia pulchella Sundance Bicolor, with globe-shaped mahogany and yellow blooms; Petunia Merlin Blue Morn, with blue and white blooms on a tall spreading plant; and Vinca Jaio Dark Red, a red and white vinca. The AAS awarded its highest honour, a gold medal, to the ornamental millet Purple Majesty. The 1.5-m (5-ft)-tall purple-leafed cornlike plants produce long flower spikes that were used for floral arrangements. The AAS also honoured two new vegetable varieties—melon Angel, a very sweet white-fleshed melon, and summer squash Papaya Pear, a yellow squash with a squat, bulbous shape that grows on a semibush plant.

All-America Rose Selections winners for 2003 were Hot Cocoa, a unique brownish orange Floribunda, bred by Tom Carruth; Whisper, a pure white Hybrid Tea Rose with glossy green foliage developed in Ireland by Colin Dickson; Cherry Parfait, a bicolour white and red Grandiflora from the house of Meilland; and Eureka, an apricot yellow floribunda hybridized by the Kordes Co.

The All-American Daylily Selection Council announced two new winners: Frankly Scarlet, a vibrant red, and Plum Perfect, a deep purple. Hedera helix Golden Ingot was chosen Ivy of the Year 2003 by the American Ivy Society. This variegated ivy, bred in Denmark, has bright-yellow leaves edged with dark green and vibrant green and gray centres.

More than two million people attended Floriade, the World’s Fair of horticulture, which was held in Haarlemmermeer, Neth. (SeeSidebar.)